The Little Cherry Blossom
by SilverEyeShinobi
Summary: When Sakura, a mermaid, falls in love with Sasuke, a human, and her mother is the Queen of the Sea who despises humans with a passion, you know things are going to go well. Spinoff of the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. Main SasuSaku, slight NejiTen
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Just the other day I relived my most favourite of Disney movies when I was a kid: **_**The Little Mermaid**_**. I had been planning for awhile to write a Naruto spinoff of **_**The Little Mermaid**_** for awhile...basically since I started writing these fairy tale oneshots. This one is SasuSaku. Hope you enjoy it!**

**I originally intended for it to be a oneshot actually. But then it turned into a 20,000 word monster and I turned it into a fourshot because I can't see many people reading 20,000 words in one shot...haha...get it? One shot? I loves me puns!**

**Wow. So I really hope you enjoy it!**

Summary: When Sakura, a mermaid, falls in love with Sasuke, a human, and her mother is the Queen of the Sea who despises humans with a passion, you know things are going to go well. Spinoff of the Disney movie The Little Mermaid.

The Little Cherry Blossom

"Okay Tenten, what's up?" Sakura asked when Tenten finally stopped swimming in probably the most isolated area in Atlantica, the land of mermaids.

Tenten floated down onto a rock and sat on it. Sakura followed suit and floated down beside her.

"Okay...so..." Tenten was absentmindedly flipping her fins and twiddling her thumbs. "You know how mom is telling me to find a merman and get married?"

Sakura nodded. Tenten was reaching the age of eighteen now, and normally princesses were engaged at the age of sixteen. She had met many princes from various areas of Atlantica, even some from the Pacific Ocean, but of course, she was picky-choosey with the whole idea (Sakura wondered who wouldn't be) and so, didn't fall for a single one. Then again, who was she to talk? Sakura was sixteen and she wasn't engaged yet either.

"Don't tell me..." Sakura stared at her sister. "You've found someone."

The blush that coated Tenten's cheeks gave it all away.

"Who is it?" Sakura asked, a grin on her face.

"Um...The thing is..."

Sakura frowned.

"He's...He's not a prince..."

"Really?" Sakura raised her eyebrows. "Who is he then?"

"ss nmgi." Tenten mumbled, bowing her head as if waiting for some kind of explosion.

"What?"

"I said it's..." Tenten hesitated. "It's...Neji..."

"WHAT?"

Tenten flinched.

"Out of all the guys you could've picked, it has to be Neji?" Sakura cried. "Damn right he's not a prince! He's a _servant _Tenten! If mum found out..."

"Don't you think I've already thought of that?" Tenten stated. "I'm afraid, Sakura! That's why I came to you!"

Sakura sighed. Tenten was right. She was her sister, for crying out loud. She should be supportive of her. But even so...Neji? Why Neji?

"I'm sorry." Sakura sighed. "Just...answer me this...Why Neji?"

Tenten looked away. "It's hard to explain...He's..." Tenten sighed. "He's supported me on more than one occasion... Not just because he's a servant either."

"I wish I understood, but I don't." Sakura sighed. "I'm just saying. I've seen some of the princes who came in to court you, and most of them are actually way better looking than Neji."

"Yeah but none of them have his heart." Tenten muttered.

"Excuse me?" Sakura frowned.

"Oh Sakura, you've never spoken to him have you?"

"I so have!"

"Not like I have." Tenten propped her chin up on her hand. "Neji's so kind, and so gentle. He cares, Sakura. He's the only one who respects who I really am."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"No of course you don't." Tenten muttered. "You won't get it, and neither will mum."

Sakura sighed. Tenten had told her one of her biggest secrets. Sakura didn't even trust her with her biggest secret. The fact was, she had a huge fascination with humans and everything about them. She wanted to know how they lived on land without fins.

"Tenten, do you really love Neji?" Sakura asked.

Tenten thought about it for a moment. "Yes. I do."

"Does he like you?"

Tenten shrugged. "I think he might."

Silence ensued between the two sisters.

"Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"Say that he does...and we...hook up...what would you do?"

Sakura thought about that. "You're my sister, Tenten. If you feel that you love him, then I'll support you all the way."

Tenten glanced at Sakura. "And if mum finds out and is angry?"

Sakura couldn't answer to that. Chances are Queen Tsunade would be upset. Very upset. She of all people wanted Tenten married to a prince, because Tenten was the oldest, and whomever she married would become King when Tsunade retired. There was no way Tsunade would allow Tenten to marry Neji.

"I wouldn't know, Tenten." Sakura sighed.

.oOo.

When Sakura arrived back at the palace, she couldn't help but look towards Neji when she spotted him in the halls. His ultra long hair was mostly unheard of for mermen, but nobody ever complained. They mostly just ignored him.

Neji was relatively an outcast in Atlantica. Nobody else had pearl white eyes like him. In fact, most regarded it as creepy. Even Sakura couldn't look at them. If she did, she would get lost, trying to find what part of his eye she should focus on. At first she thought it was some kind of eye infection, but when it didn't go away at all, she thought he was blind. Sakura knew that he wasn't though. Nobody had better eyesight than him.

Even so, this time around, Sakura couldn't help but look a little more critically at Neji, just to figure out just why Tenten liked him. She had a good memory, so she only had to sweep over him with her eyes and he was pretty much implanted in her mind. He had a long face with a sharp chin and high cheekbones. His nose was relatively straight, and most of his features might be seen as perfect, but then his eyes through you for a loop and made you wonder what the heck was up with this guy and pretty much all of that so called 'perfection' was wiped out. The scales on his tail was an iridescent silver that usually glinted blue when in shadow, but turned silver in bright light.

Yes, Neji was an odd one. But she still didn't get why Tenten liked him. She shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts. It didn't matter. It wouldn't matter. At least not until something got serious...or something like that.

Sakura swam through the thick curtain of seaweed that separated her bedroom from the rest of the castle. The ocean was getting dark now, and though the merpeople could see fairly well in the dark ocean, they would rather not be swimming around in black water.

Sakura flopped down onto her clamshell bed and closed her eyes. She would need all the rest she could get if she was going to see the shipyard tomorrow with Naruto.

.oOo.

Sasuke sighed irritably from the deck of his ship. Itachi had a really bad habit of disappearing just when he needed him. He wished he didn't have to rely on his older brother as much as he did, but sometimes Sasuke need a bit of a helping hand from him.

Sasuke was reaching his seventeenth birthday. Everyone was insisting that he be married soon, but he was picky with women. He was constantly searching for 'the one', that one girl he could live with for the rest of his life.

"Damn it, Itachi, where the bloody hell are you?" Sasuke muttered bitterly. As if he didn't already know. Itachi was a swimmer. He was probably swimming right now, staying in sight of the boat. Heck, he could be left behind really easily if he strayed too far, but that didn't stop Itachi. He was a bit of a doofus in Sasuke's opinion. I mean come on, he believes in merpeople. Half human, half fish. Right. As freaking if.

But oh no, Itachi doesn't think it's so farfetched. In fact, he believes he's seen one for crying out loud.

That's the whole reason he's so obsessed with swimming. He wants to catch sight of these fish-men again. According to him, every one in five swims he sees at least one.

Or maybe he's swimming so much because he hopes that if he swims enough, he'll become one of them.

Sasuke scoffed. Stupid idiot brother. He was so good at what he did now that he could hold his breath for up to three minutes, and dive down to at least twenty meters and come back up without getting the bends. How the hell he did that, Sasuke didn't know.

Sasuke leaned over the side of the ship, searching for his brother. It was getting late, and if he didn't come back soon, well he'd probably never find his way back.

As if on cue, Itachi's head surfaced a few feet away from the ship. He swam forward expertly and latched onto the ladder at the side before hauling himself out of the drink.

"Where the hell have you been?" Sasuke asked when Itachi pulled himself back on board.

"Swimming," Itachi stated.

"You've been gone for awhile." Sasuke pointed out.

Itachi shrugged. "I saw some merpeople and I managed to watch them for a little bit."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Itachi pulled the goggles he built himself with glass and various other things so he could see underwater off his forehead and headed towards the door that lead below deck.

"I don't expect you to believe me, Sasuke. I know what I saw."

"Itachi, you need to cut this obsession of yours."

"I'm not obsessed." Itachi stated. "I'm curious."

"Whatever." He was obsessed. Sasuke already knew that. He collected freaking seashells for crying out loud. Sasuke shook his head, wondering what he did to deserve a moron for a brother.

"Tell you what, Sasuke." Itachi looked in his direction, squeezing the water out of his hair that would surely dry, causing his hair to become encrusted with salt. "You stop this obsession of finding 'the one'. Seriously, it's getting you nowhere."

"Don't be such a hypocrite." Sasuke barked.

"I'm not. I was telling you to stop being such a hypocrite." Itachi flipped his ponytail behind him.

"I don't know what the heck is with you and freaking mermaids, but that's getting you nowhere too!"

"Merpeople, Sasuke." Itachi sighed, turning towards the door again and retreating to his room.

Sasuke scoffed and shook his head. He didn't care what Itachi was up to. He was merely on his own quest: to find the one he loved.

.oOo.

"Sakura, it's creepy here." Naruto stated for the umpteenth time that day. His orange scales glinted gold in the faint light as he swam with Sakura through the shipyard. There were so many sunken ships in this general area, Sakura wondered what had happened to them.

She swam through a jagged hole and into the belly of the ship. She hadn't looked in this one yet.

"S-Sakura, it's really creepy." Naruto stuttered, his blue eyes wide and staring fearfully at the wreckage around them.

"Wow!" Sakura gasped. She picked up what looked like a shiny, flat and hard piece of kelp with four prongs on top. She didn't know what it was, but she did know that she didn't have anything like it in her collection.

"What the heck is that?" Naruto asked. "It looks like a spear we use to spear fish, only tiny." Naruto was a hunter, so he hunted down fish for the merpeople to eat. He was one of many hunters among the merpeople, and he was one of the best.

"Really?" Sakura asked, rotating the object this way and that. "But I guess it needs a name too, huh?"

Naruto shrugged. "Let's just call it...a Dinglehopper."

Sakura giggled. "A Dinglehopper it is." She stuffed it into her bag and continued to explore the general area.

Naruto's curiosity got the better of him and he swam into an adjoining room.

"GAAHHH SAKURA!" Naruto whipped back into the room in a flash of orange and crashed into Sakura, sending both of them spinning through the water.

"Naruto, relax, everything is fine." Sakura stated.

"There's...There's stuff in there, Sakura..." Naruto trembled violently, still holding onto Sakura with an iron grip.

Sakura pushed Naruto away and swam to what Naruto was talking about. Looking in the room, even she got a little uneasy.

"Do you know what those are for?" Naruto whispered hoarsely.

Sakura swam into the room and took a look around. Sure, there were many various sharp objects all over the place in there, but it wasn't that scary. Except for the giant hook. That, was freaking scary. She did not want to know what that was used for.

"Can we get out of here, please?" Naruto gasped.

Sakura sighed and obliged, swimming back to Naruto's side. The two swam out of the jagged hole again, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief.

"No matter how many times we do it, it never ceases to freak me out." Naruto whispered. "Tsunade would kill me if she knew I was letting you go."

Sakura stopped, her eyes squinting at something off in the distance. She could faintly see a dark shape that looked a little like coral, but couldn't possibly be coral.

"Sometimes I wonder, Sakura, why the heck are you so fascinated by humans? HEY!" Naruto whipped after Sakura's green tail. "Sakura! Where the heck are you going?"

Sakura didn't stop. It was a weird thing. As she got closer, the light from the surface was blocked out by something. Something big.

"Whoa..." Naruto whispered, staring at the massive thing in front of them. It was oddly shaped in a way that was nearly indescribable for the two merpeople.

_Sploosh_

The sound came from above, causing Naruto and Sakura to look up. A trail of bubbles extended downwards, following a dark figure who was shooting downwards at just about the same speed as a merperson would swim.

Except this one appeared to have legs.

"WHOA!" Naruto cried and whipped away faster than Sakura could blink. Sakura could only stare. It was a human, yes it was. Whoever the human was, it was watching her.

"S-Sakura...Come on..." Naruto whispered.

Sakura continued to stare at the human. She lost count of the seconds. But then, the human released a stream of bubbles from its mouth and began to swim for the surface. That's right! Humans need air!

Naruto took this as his chance to grab Sakura and whisk her away from the area. Sakura allowed Naruto to drag her away. One thing she already knew, was that she was going to go back there when nobody was looking.

.oOo.

Sasuke shot Itachi a look when he climbed back onto the deck.

"Admit it: You saw that swathe of orange." Itachi stated, squeezing the water out of his hair.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Yeah, maybe he did see orange down there. Just faintly. Normally, water drains the colour out of anything that's red, pink, orange or yellow and pretty much turns it grey. But yes, he did see the orange.

"So I'm guessing that was one of your 'mermaids'." Sasuke scoffed.

"Yes. It was." Itachi stated. "He took off pretty fast though. The girl who was with him didn't take off so quickly, but as soon as I left, she was gone as well."

"Whoa, wait, you can tell the difference between males and females now?"

"It's not that hard, Sasuke. The merpeople look just like us, except instead of legs, they have fins."

"Which is why I don't believe in them." Sasuke turned around and walked away. As he walked, he heard a distant rumble of thunder. He hoped the storm would miss them. Today was his birthday, and no storm would ruin it.

.oOo.

Sakura glanced around, searching for anyone who could be following her. She couldn't see anyone, so she swam in the direction she remembered the strange object to be. She smiled when she found it. Looking up, a massive oyster shaped object blocked out the light from above. It made an ominous creaking sound as it shifted around in the waves.

Unable to stop herself, Sakura swam up towards the thing until her head popped from the water. She coughed a few times as the air met her lungs, but she found out really fast that she could breathe it. It made her slightly dizzy, but she could manage.

Sakura grabbed a piece of the great oyster, and somehow managed to pull herself out of the water. She climbed and climbed, grinning to herself as she got closer to the top. Her body was heavy now that it was out of the water, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. Her heart was pounding and pumping adrenaline that fuelled the excitement flooding her mind.

When she pulled herself all the way up, she hooked her tail around the ropes and sat down, gazing across the top of the oyster. A celebration seemed to be going on. Humans were dancing across the top, smiling and laughing while music played in the background.

One human in particular caught her eye. His black hair was wild and unkempt, as if it had been whipped around in the wind for too long. He was grinning from ear to ear as he danced along with many other humans.

Then something clicked in her mind. This was a ship. Like the ones that were sunken, only this one was floating.

"Sasuke, let's take a break."

The black haired human nodded and followed another human towards the side of the ship. Sakura gasped and skittered out of view, propping herself up on the side as best as she could and out of sight.

"So. Seventeen now, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Sasuke, are you ever going to give up on looking for that so called 'the one'?"

"Are you ever going to give up your quest for mermaids?"

_Mermaids..._ Sakura whispered softly to herself.

There was a chuckle. "Sasuke, if you saw one, you would never stop looking for them."

"So you know how I feel then."

"Sasuke..."

"Itachi, I'm not going to marry some woman I don't love!" Sakura heard a creak and looked up carefully. She could see his face so clearly. He was so incredibly handsome. His hair blew around his face, and his skin looked flawless and smooth. She longed to reach up and touch it, and to have him focus his eyes on her and unleash that smile she saw him wearing as he danced across the ship. Her heart pounded as she realized all he had to do was look down, and he would see her.

She almost wished he would.

"I'm just not." He murmured. His voice was so gentle on her ears.

"You can't keep looking forever, Sasuke."

"She's out there somewhere, Itachi." He disappeared, turning towards an unseen figure. "I've just got to find her."

"And what will you do? How will you know?"

The boy went silent. "I'll just know."

A loud rumble tore through the air just as water fell from the sky in little droplets. Sakura looked up, unsure of what was going on.

Next thing she knew, the boat pitched sideways, flinging her from her spot on the side of the ship. She yelped and hung on tight as the wind whipped up. Her hands slid from the side of the ship and she flew backwards into the water, almost painfully. She inhaled water, causing her to choke temporarily before she adjusted back to breathing water.

The currents were whipping up, making it tough to swim in any direction. She suddenly found herself on the surface, coughing up the water all over again. When she looked up at the ship, she gasped in surprise.

The whole thing was lit up in a bright orange colour, and she could feel the heat from it. Humans leapt from the ship into tiny boats, but one person she was looking for was the handsome man.

Luckily, she didn't have to look for long. She saw a wave slam into the ship, capsizing it. Without really thinking, she dove beneath the waves and swam quickly and furiously. There he was. He was sinking. Fast.

Sakura grabbed onto him and dragged him to the surface so he could breathe. She heard him gasp and she breathed a sigh of relief as she continued to swim. She knew where the shore was. He needed to get there.

She swam harder and faster than she ever had before. It felt like hours, but it was really a few minutes until she arrived on shore. Sakura dragged the boy onto the sand just as the sun broke through the clouds, bathing them in sunlight.

Sakura gasped. He was so beautiful. She slid his hand down his cheek and sang softly to his unconscious form.

A few seconds later, his eyes fluttered open. Sakura's heart soared as his dark eyes pierced hers. He was beautiful. That's all she could think at that moment.

"Y-You..." He whispered. His hand reached up and caressed her cheek. Her skin tingled beneath fingers in the most delightful way.

"SASUKE!"

Both of their heads turned towards the sound. Sakura twisted in a way that would've been impossible for humans and leapt back into the waves, sad that she had to go so soon. She pulled herself onto a nearby rock to survey the scene from afar.

"Sasuke, are you okay?" A man hoisted him to his feet.

"Itachi...A girl..." He whispered. "Rescued me...She was singing in the most beautiful voice..."

"Right, you probably just hit your head a little too hard." The man stated. "Come on."

"Itachi, I'm serious. She was really there."

"Right, and where is she now?"

He didn't have an answer to that. "She was an angel..." he finally whispered. "She must've protected me..."

"Right, says the kid who doesn't even believe in merpeople."

The rest of their conversation was lost to Sakura. "Someday I'll be," She sang. "Part of your world."

.oOo.

Tsunade frowned at this news.

"Tenten, is what you're saying true?"

"I saw it, mother." Tenten whispered. Her voice quivered. She felt like she was betraying her sister, but...but what she had seen...

"Very well. You may go."

Tenten swam away quickly.

"Did you tell her?" Neji asked outside of the door.

Tenten nodded.

"You did the right thing. It's dangerous for us to associate with humans."

"Thank you, Neji."

"You're welcome."


	2. Chapter 2

Tsunade followed the pink hair of her daughter through the ocean. She wasn't sure where she was going, but wherever it was, it was a secret. She knew that because Sakura kept glancing behind her warily.

Finally, Sakura arrived at wherever she was going. She glanced behind her one more time, not seeing her mother, before shifting a rock to the side and swimming through the resulting hole.

Tsunade swam over quickly and slipped through just as fast and hiding in the shadows. What she saw horrified her. Objects. Human objects.

Sakura swam through her secret grotto, singing a song to herself. When she returned to the bottom, Tsunade spoke up, startling her.

"Is this appropriate, Sakura?"

"M-Mom..." She whispered. Sakura stared at Tsunade. She could tell she wasn't happy.

"What was this I was hearing? Tenten told me you rescued a human from drowning!"

"He was going to die!" Sakura protested.

"That's no excuse!" Tsunade roared. The trident she carried glowed brightly in her anger. "They're all barbarians!"  
>"They are not barbarians!"<p>

"Sakura, how many times have I told you? Humans are dangerous!"

"I LOVE HIM!" Sakura gasped and covered her mouth. She realized that her words were true, but the way Tsunade's face darkened with that proposal made her tremble in fear.

"Have you lost your senses?" Tsunade whispered. "He's a human! You're a mermaid!"

"I don't care!" Sakura stated.

"So help me then." Tsunade whipped up her trident and sent blasts of energy through the water.

"MOM NO!" Sakura cried as her precious collection was destroyed in mere seconds. Pieces of cloth and clay rained down from the grotto around her.

As if she was a part of it, Sakura floated down along with it, settling down in the sand at the bottom. Tsunade turned around and left with a flick of her tail.

.oOo.

Sakura lay there crying for what felt like hours. Suddenly, a voice cut through the air.

"You poor child..."

"Poor poor child..."

The whispers went on. Sakura looked up to see a pair of eels circling her.

"It seems like she has a problem..."

"If only there was something we could do..."

"But we can do something..."

"W-Who are you?" Sakura whispered.

"Karin has great powers..."

Sakura's eyes widened. "The sea witch?" She whispered.

The two eels seemed to grin.

"She could turn you into a human..."

"Don't you want to be with your human?"

Sakura seriously thought about it. That's what scared her.

"No...No I couldn't possibly...Get out of here!" Sakura hid her face.

"Suit yourself..." The voices whispered.

"Of course, that was only a suggestion..."

"It's not like there's anything left for you anyways..."

Sakura looked up at that.

"Your sister betrayed you..."

"Your mother destroyed everything you love..."

"Such a shame..."

The voices began fading away.

"W-Wait!" Sakura cried.

The two eels turned around.

"Yes?"

.oOo.

Tenten and Neji swam side by side, searching for Sakura. She still hadn't returned.

"Tenten..."

Tenten looked towards Neji who pointed to something off in the distance. He turned and swam towards where he was pointing. Tenten followed. In a few seconds, Sakura came into view. She was swimming with two eels.

"Sakura!" Tenten cried. "What are you-"

"I'm going to see Karin." Sakura stated simply.

"No! Sakura! She's a demon!" Neji cried.

"Show some respect, you stupid servant!" Sakura growled at Neji. Neji didn't react to Sakura's retort, but Tenten looked horrified.

"Sakura, don't!" Tenten protested as Sakura continued to swim away.

"Why don't you go tell mom? You're good at that." Sakura flicked her tail and shot forward.

Tenten floated there, stunned beyond comprehension.

"Come on." Neji flicked his tail and swam after Sakura. Tenten followed.

.oOo.

"Welcome, welcome..."

Sakura stared in shock at the octopus. So this was the sea witch...

"So, you wish to become human?" Karin asked.

Sakura nodded slowly.

"Very well then, I'll whip up a potion to turn you into a human." Karin grinned. "But there's a catch...You have three days. If you get him to kiss you before the sun sets on the third day, you'll remain human permanently. But if he doesn't, you'll turn back into a mermaid and you belong to me."

Sakura's eyes widened slightly. "But...if I become human...I'll never see anyone again..."

"That's right, but you'll have your man, won't you?"

Sakura nodded. Besides, her sister is a traitor, and her mother is just...ugh.

"I'll do it."

"Very well. But in exchange for my help, you will give me your voice."

"M-My voice?"

"Yes...That's all that's needed..." Karin produced a scroll that glowed bright gold. "Just sign here."

Sakura hesitated, then shoved everything aside, quickly signing her name.

"Great! Let's begin!" Karin began whipping up a potion right before her eyes. Soon, the entire cavern was filled with glowing smoke.

"Now sing!" Karin stated.

Sakura opened up her mouth and began singing. She could only watch as the smoke began to take shape; turning into a pair of hands. She tried not to flinch away as the hands approached and reached down her throat. It felt like a lump had formed and she choked just as the smoke hands removed a glowing orb of golden light from her throat. She grabbed her throat, realizing that she could no longer speak.

Then, golden light enveloped her body and her tail turned into a pair of legs. Sakura panicked, kicking violently but to no avail. Her chest felt like it was about to burst. She thought about what a bad idea this was just as several pairs of hands wrapped around her and whipped her out of there. She opened her eyes and snapped them shut again as the salt water burned them.

With a splash, Sakura burst to the surface and choked up the water in her lungs. When she opened her still stinging eyes, she saw Tenten and Neji.

"WHY?" Tenten cried. "Sakura, why did you do that?"

Sakura opened her mouth to explain but no sound came out. Her voice was gone.

"Princess Sakura?" Neji watched her carefully.

"What in the world..."

Neji's eyes widened as a comical gasp erupted from his throat before he grabbed Tenten's arm and dove back beneath the water. Sakura heard a splashing noise as she grabbed onto the rock beside her to prevent herself from sinking. Pain flared through the tips of her fingers as she felt several nails break in her scramble for the rock.

She couldn't even cry out as she slid from the rock and sunk beneath the water. Her feet sunk deep into the sand, wait FEET?

Sakura surfaced again and gasped for air, trying not to sink again to no avail.

"Oh my god."

Her head went under again just as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and began dragging her. Her head went above water again and she gulped down the air just as she was lifted from the liquid. Gritty sand pressed into her back as an icy wind made her shiver. Something wet and heavy flopped down on top of her making her open her eyes. Above her was a boy with onyx eyes...at first she thought it was her human, but then she noticed many differences. He had longer hair, and sharper eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Sakura nodded slowly

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Sakura opened her mouth to ask who this man was, but no sound came out.

The man frowned. "What's wrong?"

Sakura touched her throat.

"Can't breathe?"

Sakura shook her head, taking a few deep breaths to prove it.

The man frowned as Sakura touched her throat again.

"Do you feel sick?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Is there something in your throat?"

Sakura twitched in irritation and unleashed hell on him by attempting to scream 'I can't speak you idiot!' to no avail.

"You've lost your voice?"

Sakura nodded.

The man looked over his shoulder and turned back towards her. "Those... people... you were with... do you know them?"

Sakura nodded without really thinking and instantly regretted it.

"So you're...a mermaid?"

Sakura blinked in surprise. This guy knew...

"I would ask what happened to you, but I'm guessing that's your business, right?" He stood up, towering over her.

Sakura nodded slowly. She didn't really want to tell him anything, not that she could.

"My name is Itachi." He held out his hand. Then he smirked. "Allow me to be the first to welcome you to dry land."

Sakura laughed, no sound actually coming out other than a shaky gasping noise. When her laughing fit subsided, she looked back up at the man above her. He still held his hand out towards her.

"Take my hand, and let me help you up." He stated.

Sakura bit her lip and did as she was told. She was surprised by how hot his skin was as he pulled her to her feet. Sakura's mouth opened in a silent cry as she lost her balance and fell forward. The man caught her and held her steady until Sakura figured out how to balance properly. She then realized she had lost the thing he had thrown over her, and he was picking it back up again. Sakura wondered just why he wasn't looking at her. He had been doing it just fine before...

She yelped silently as he grabbed one of her arms and slid it into the whatever-the-heck-it-was that used to cover her. He did the same with the other arm and somehow brought it together at the front. Now he was able to look at her, somehow cluing into her curious face.

"It's called a shirt. You're naked, and you can't walk around naked for crying out loud."

What the heck was 'naked'? Sakura thought about that for a moment. Sure it was customary for mermaids to wear kelp, or seashells over their chests when they grew older because it was polite, but could that mean that it was polite to do the same with the humans?

"Okay, so you need to walk."

Walk? She was going to WALK?

"Put your foot forward like this:" the man demonstrated.

Sakura put her foot forward but wobbled slightly at the movement. The man held her shoulders so she wouldn't wobble so much. He coached her through her first steps, and after the third one, he released her shoulders just slightly so she could learn to balance as she walked.

Sakura grinned as the sand squished between her toes with every step. Walking was _awesome_. It made her wonder when she would get to run or even jump. Oooh, how about skip?

"I don't know why you're here," the man piped up suddenly. "But whatever it is, I'm sure you have your reasons."

Sakura nodded.

"Whatever it is, I'm going to help you, all right?"

Sakura nodded again.

"And my name's Itachi. Did I tell you that already?"

Sakura nodded. Itachi. She would remember that name, even if she wouldn't actually get to say it.

"Itachi!"

Itachi stopped just as they both caught sight of a boy with wild black hair running towards them.

Sakura's eyes lit up as a smile spread across her face. Without really thinking about it, she took several quick steps towards the boy and threw her arms around him.

"What the-" The boy winced slightly. "Who are you?"

'You know me!' Sakura wanted to say, but couldn't. Instead she leaned away from him to look at his soft black eyes. They studied her carefully, and then widened.

"You...Have we met before?"

Sakura nodded, grinning.

"So it's you!" The boy grinned. "You're that girl! I've been looking for you! What's your name?"

Silence. Sakura bit her lip. She had tried to say her name, but nothing had come out.

"She can't speak, Sasuke." Itachi stated. "I found her on the beach."

The boy, Sasuke, looked at her carefully. Sakura could see the disappointment in his gaze.

"So, let's get you back to the castle." Sasuke stated, pulling her hands off his shoulders. "She'll need a place to stay, right?" He looked at Itachi for guidance.

Itachi nodded.

"And why is she wearing your shirt?"

Itachi smirked, wiping it off a second later. "She's naked."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa..." Sasuke took a few steps back. "Are you freaking serious?"

"I wish I wasn't."

Sakura frowned. What was the big deal with this 'naked' thing?

"Right..." Sasuke seemed to get over his shock. "So...let's go then." He began to walk away.

"Come on." Itachi told her and walked slowly beside her while she got used to her new legs.

.oOo.

"That did not just happen..." Tenten whispered. "Sakura...Oh Sakura..." She sobbed.

Neji held her comfortingly. "She's not a mermaid anymore. We may as well leave now."

"NO!" Tenten cried.

Neji flinched.

"Didn't you hear Karin?"

Neji recalled everything the Sea Witch had said.

"She's got three days..." Neji said softly.

Tenten nodded. "She has to get that man to kiss her or she turns back into a mermaid and is stuck with Karin forever!"

"This goes against everything I have been taught..." Neji whispered. "But I guess we have no choice. Princess Sakura can't fall into that witches hands."

"So what do we do now?"

"Let's follow them." Neji stated, flicking his silvery-blue tail and whipping off. Tenten followed, catching up to him easily.

.oOo.

Sakura sat down on some large platform thing only to have it sink beneath her. She gasped in surprise before realizing it was _bouncy!_ She couldn't help but bounce there for a few seconds. The two men, Itachi and Sasuke, watched her every move. Itachi seemed to be amused, yet fascinated while Sasuke looked at her like some kind of weirdo.

As soon as she had arrived at this 'castle' thing, the first thing she thought was that it looked sort of like her palace beneath the sea. She wondered how the heck it could stay up the way it was with no water supporting it. Then again, it was built to be on land, so the structure was probably different.

Itachi had called for a maid, and the maid led her into a room where she was put in a shirt kind of like Itachi's only longer and more flowing. Sakura thought the maid had called it a 'dress'.

As soon as the maid left, Sakura had explored the room with fascination, studying every last thing in the room, imagining what it could possibly be.

"Come on. We have to get to dinner." Sasuke stated, turning away from the scene in front of him and literally opening part of the wall to leave.

Sakura stared in awe. She had missed it the first time when her maid led her here because she had been examining everything, but now she saw Sasuke do it...

"It's a door." Itachi stated, a smile on his face. He closed it again and beckoned her over.

Sakura walked over slowly.

"Put your hand here." Itachi stated, tapping a round golden orb on the so-called 'door'.

Sakura put her hand on it and wrapped her fingers around it.

"Now twist and pull."

Twist and pull? Sakura rotated her arm and was surprised to feel the golden orb move with her hand. She then pulled and gasped in surprise as the wall swung open for her.

'It's magic!' she tried to say.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Itachi said with a grin.

Cool?

Sakura nodded anyway, not knowing what that meant.

Itachi walked from the room and Sakura followed him, closing the wall behind her. She would have to play with that later...

.oOo.

Sasuke sat at the dining room table, his fingers laced together and his chin resting on top of them. What was with that girl? Sasuke thought she looked familiar; just like that girl that rescued him with her pink hair and bright green eyes...

But why couldn't she speak? When she saved him, she had been singing in the most wonderful voice. So what happened? Not to mention that girl was completely absurd. She acted like she had never seen a bed before. Itachi seemed to think it was the greatest thing in the world, but Sasuke just found it ridiculous.

The door opened to the dining room hall and in walked Itachi flanked by that pink haired girl. Okay, he had to admit, she looked absolutely striking in that dress. She was a beautiful girl, that's for sure. A little stupid, but she was beautiful.

Her green eyes locked with his, and all of the doubt Sasuke felt was wiped away. This was her. It had to be her. If it wasn't, then let Sasuke never find true love. That's how certain he was.

.oOo.

Sakura sat down at the table in the same odd things that Sasuke was sitting in. She assumed that it was like a clamshell down in the ocean. It was made for sitting.

Sakura's gaze raked across the raised platform in front of her. Then her eyes fell on a shiny piece of kelp with four prongs.

'Dinglehopper!' she practically shouted, of course no sound coming out. She picked it up and rotated it this way and that, watching the metal glint.

A soft chuckle came from Itachi's throat. "Fork." He stated.

Sasuke scoffed.

Another set of magic walls opened and in came people carrying silver domes. One was placed in front of everyone at the table. Sakura had to admit, whatever it was, smelled very odd.

"My, just look at that sunset."

"Hm..." Itachi murmured. "It's lovely."

Sunset...that's right...she had three days...

Sakura turned around and looked where Itachi was looking. It was like there was nothing there, but there was something there because she couldn't smell the sea. But beyond whatever that clear thing was, was the sun setting over the ocean. No...one day had gone by already...

"Are you all right, dear?"

Sakura silently yelped and turned towards the voice. It was a maid.

"Is there something wrong?" The maid asked.

Sakura shook her head.

"That's good. Eat up then!" The maid raised the silver dome in front of her, leaving behind a shiny half-shell of...what was that anyway? It was...brown, and slightly pink, just slightly. It had black lines all over it. Next to that was a rainbow of pebbles of various shapes, and beside that was like white...Sakura frowned trying to find a way to describe it.

Unable to help it, Sakura looked up at Itachi to see him put a piece of the brown stuff in his mouth and chew it slowly. So...she would eat it then. She noticed he was using the Dinglehopper...did he call it a 'Fork'? Sakura glanced at Sasuke to see him stick the prongs of the Dinglehopper into the brown stuff, so when he lifted it back up, the brown stuff came with it.

Sakura picked up her Dinglehopper and stabbed the brown stuff in front of her. She successfully lifted the brown stuff up and shoved it in her mouth. She chewed it. The odd thing was, it seemed to melt in her mouth, which nearly made her gag. She did everything she could to not spit the brown stuff out. She couldn't figure the taste out. She had lived most of her life eating fish and whatever else they could get their hands on, but this taste was completely foreign.

Sakura watched Itachi eat the coloured pebbles. She bit her lip and then followed suit, scooping up the pebbles with the Dinglehopper and putting them in her mouth. Unfortunately, they all rolled off and she only managed to stab herself in the lip.

She saw Itachi cringe as she dropped the Dinglehopper and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Are you okay?"

Sakura tasted something odd in her mouth. It tasted like water that was tinged red. Blood? She removed her hand from her mouth to see a bit of red on it.

There was a screeching noise as both Sasuke and Itachi stood up at the same time. A pair of hands grabbed onto her shoulders as Itachi moved around the table.

Sakura looked up at Sasuke as he turned her head towards her, studying the nick on her lip. Sakura became entranced by that concerned gaze. Just as fast, her gaze focused on this thin lips that looked so...so...

"Are you all right?" Sasuke asked, his soft tenor voice flowing smoothly from those wonderful looking lips. "Did you stab yourself?"

Sakura nodded slowly. He was so close. If she kissed him now...

"Sasuke."

Sasuke looked up, one of his hands whipping up to catch something Itachi threw at him. She didn't get a chance to look at it, as Sasuke began wiping the blood off her mouth.

"You are the silliest girl I have ever known. You will never use a fork again, I tell you."

Itachi chuckled. "What will she use?"

"Chopsticks. I don't know." Sasuke sighed.

Itachi laughed. "If she stabbed herself with a fork, I'd hate to see what damage she could do with a pair of chopsticks."

"At least she won't stab herself." Sasuke stated, examining the now clean wound. "It's not bad. But be careful next time, okay?" His gaze met hers again, his onyx eyes genuinely concerned.

Sakura nodded slowly.

Sasuke gave her a warm smile. She forgot to breathe.

"Tomorrow I'll take you around town. How does that sound?"

Sakura grinned and nodded.

Sasuke flashed her a killer smirk, making her heart skip several beats.

"Sasuke, you don't have to spoil her." Itachi chuckled.

"Heh," Sasuke scoffed and returned to his seat. "I'll do whatever I want, whenever I want."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "Yes, you will won't you?"

.oOo.

"Wow..." Tenten whispered. "I've never seen the sun set on the surface before."

Neji didn't respond.

"Neji?" Tenten looked in his direction to see him gazing solemnly towards the setting sun. His face was blank and emotionless, and his pale lavender eyes reflected some of the red light from the sky. Tenten didn't know what Neji was thinking. If he was admiring the beauty of the setting sun, then he was doing so very subtly.

Tenten turned away from Neji and leaned against him. He grunted in surprise as if jarred from a daze, but then held solid, leaning against her in return. He slipped his arm around her as she laid her head on his shoulder. Neji felt uneasy here. In this strange, waterless world, he had to support his own weight which was hurting quite a bit. He assumed it was because of the position they were in. Merpeople weren't meant to 'sit'.

But that wasn't the only reason he felt frightened. Humans were horrible people. He didn't want to associate with them. The only reason he was here now was because Tenten wanted to help her sister, and her sister was with the humans. Neji had a feeling that even if he wasn't there, Tenten would still be trying to help Sakura, and that would be putting her at risk. Neji couldn't let her do that. It wasn't just because he was a 'servant' either. He truly, genuinely, without a doubt, loved her. And he would get caught in a fisherman's net before he let Tenten come to harm.

.oOo.

Sakura leapt onto the bouncy raised platform in her room. She heard the air rush from her lungs as she made contact with the squishy material and it compressed beneath the impact. She grinned as she rebounded back upwards.

Hmmm...

Sakura stood unsteadily to her feet and began to bounce on the spot. Sure enough, the material caused her to bounce. With a silent laugh, Sakura gave jumping a try. Her gut went into her stomach at the height she got. She tried to scream, but no sound came out as she landed back on the bed. She stabilized herself and grinned again. She laughed silently as she bounced herself upwards again and again, every time she landed, she got better at balancing.

Sasuke poked his head in around that time. She had forgotten to close the magic wall when she walked in, leaving him free to poke his head in. Sakura waved joyfully as she bounced on the bed.

Sasuke's brow twitched in the most comical way at first, but then a smirk curled up on his face as he entered the room and closed the magic wall, leaning against it to watch with amusement.

Sakura jumped higher throwing her arms up with the jump. When she landed, her ankle turned just slightly, causing her next jump to be slightly lopsided.

"WHOA!"

Sakura felt herself falling without really noticing. She still had a smile on her face. Jumping was _fun!_

A pair of arms wrapped around her chest just as she felt her back press into something solid and warm.

_THUD!_

Sakura laughed silently once again. She twisted herself around to look at just whom she had landed on and saw Sasuke who looked completely stunned by the impact. She pouted in concern and leaned over his face, looking very closely for any signs of life.

His eyes finally opened, his head turning towards her. Dark eyes met hers, and her rapidly thudding heart started up again. His hand reached up and softly touched her cheek. He was so unbelievably _warm_ it was almost unheard of. It sent tingles shooting from the places where his skin touched hers and making her entire body heat up like...like...he was _sharing_ that incredible warmth with her.

Sasuke leaned up towards her. Sakura felt his hot breath on her lips. So this was it...he was going to kiss her and she'd be a human forever... She closed her eyes.

_SLAM!_

"What happened?" Itachi walked in and instantly spotted the two on the ground, their eyes looking innocently in his direction. Itachi blinked a few times and then reversed from the room, closing the door behind him.

He had been sure he saw the mute girl _straddling_ his little brother, and they had been about to kiss.

Itachi opened the door again and saw the girl standing up, looking a little nervous, and Sasuke also standing up, brushing dust off his pants. He breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't in the mood for 'the talk' anyway.

"What happened?" Itachi asked again.

"She was jumping on the bed, and she fell off. She landed on me." Sasuke stated. "No big deal."

Sakura smiled to herself and looked awkwardly away.

"Come on, Sasuke. You've gotta return to your room." Itachi stated.

"Yeah, yeah." Sasuke sighed. He turned towards Sakura. "See you in the morning." He stated, unleashing that killer smirk.

Sakura's cheeks went hot as she watched Sasuke's retreating back. He left through the magic wall.

Itachi looked at her with concern for a moment. Then he gave her the same warm smile he gave her back on the beach when he welcomed her to land.

"Don't leave this room, all right? Not until either myself or Sasuke come get you. Do you understand?"

Sakura nodded.

Itachi smiled. "Goodnight." Itachi left the room, closing the magic wall behind him.

Sakura flopped down onto the bed, sinking into its odd fluffiness. It was strangely comfortable, and the sheets were just as warm as Sasuke was.

.oOo.

Sasuke lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had loved the way her green eyes danced with happiness as she jumped on the bed. It made Sasuke want to join her, though he knew he was too old for such games. The second she had landed that one awkward time, he knew she was going to fall. Without really thinking about it, he had run to her aid and caught her before she hit the ground, smacking the back of his head against the marble floor in the process. The shock of the impact had raced through every part of his skull, right up to his forehead. He still had the headache from it, though he barely felt it. His vision had gone dark and as it began to fade in again, he could see stars flickering in front of his eyes. Stories didn't lie.

Then he had felt the weight of her on top of him. She was straddling his waist with no real clue as to what she was doing. Sasuke found it endearing, yet disturbing. She was so innocent. Sasuke could tell she was untainted in every way. That made her sweet. But at the same time, he felt bad that he had enjoyed every second she hovered over him. He lost herself in her eyes, just like that time on the beach. Yes, there was no more doubt. This was the girl who saved him.

Without really thinking about it, he leaned towards her. The feeling of her short, rapid breaths on his lips sent waves of...something...throughout his body. He didn't quite know what that feeling was. Was it lust? No it couldn't have been. He didn't want to go _that_ far.

Then his damned brother had walked in. Curse him and his impeccable timing. Somehow, he could find _exactly_ the wrong times to come and check up on his little brother.

Sasuke sighed irritably and rolled onto his side, wrapping the blankets around himself. Tomorrow then. She would still be here tomorrow. When he took her out into the town, that's when he would do it. He would kiss her then. He needed a name too.

.oOo.

Sakura woke up bathed in the sunlight from outside. A grin split her face as she remembered what today would bring. She would be going out with Sasuke!

Sakura practically danced around the room, a tune playing through her head as she attempted to hum it to no avail. As she danced across the marble, her grin widened. She was getting good at using her legs! Today, she would try running.

"Good morning."

Sakura's grin could only get wider as she turned towards Sasuke. She danced up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

Sasuke chuckled. "Someone's in a good mood." He observed.

Unable to help herself, Sakura grabbed Sasuke's wrists and began dancing with him. Sasuke chuckled submitted to her demands.

For about ten seconds.

"All right, why don't I show you how you _really_ dance?" Sasuke stated with his killer smirk.

Sakura nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"Put your hand here," Sasuke guided her hand to his shoulder and took her other hand in his. His other hand rested on her waist. "Now just follow me, all right?"

Sakura nodded again.

Sasuke stepped slowly, and Sakura followed awkwardly, silently laughing as her feet tangled with his. He suddenly broke away from her and guided her into a twirl. The skirt of her nightgown flared out around her like a water lily opening its flower to the sky. She spun back into his arms where he held her, his nose resting against her forehead. Sakura's throat ached, wishing she could say his name. Sasuke... Sasuke... Sasuke...

"Why are you crying?" Sasuke said softly.

Sakura blinked, surprised that there was water coming out of her eyes.

Sasuke's thumbs softly brushed away the tears, his dark eyes sending her mind in circles.

"Good morning."

Sasuke started and closed his eyes in annoyance. Sakura giggled silently.

"I hope you don't mind me interrupting such a...er..." Itachi scratched his chin, looking up at the ceiling. "_sensual_ moment-"

"Sensual?" Sasuke turned away from Sakura, finally opening his eyes. "Why do you always have a habit of showing up when I don't need you, and disappearing when I do?"

Itachi chuckled. "Sasuke, that's not very nice. I only came to tell you that we're heading down for breakfast."

Sasuke nodded and looked towards Sakura. "Try not to stab yourself with the fork this time, okay?"

Itachi chuckled. "Why don't you feed her then?"

There was a sharp_ crack_ as Sasuke swatted his brother in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Itachi rubbed the back of his head, visibly cringing. "Why do you hit so hard, Sasuke?"

"Shut up." Sasuke grumbled.

Sakura giggled silently at the brothers. It was just like her and Naruto on most days.

Naruto...

Sakura wondered how he was holding up. He was her guard whenever she left the castle just as Neji was Tenten's guard when she left the castle. Sakura wondered if her mother was punishing him for losing her. She prayed she would go easy on him.

As for Tenten and Neji, she hadn't seen them since yesterday. Her face scrunched up at the thought of them. They had probably already told Tsunade about her transformation. She was _so_ going to get it...

But if Sasuke kissed her, then it would all be worth it.

.oOo.

After a breakfast of some kind of soft, fluffy flat flounder that tasted nothing like fish, a maid lead Sakura up to her room again. She was dressed in a simple, yet elegant dress for the day. She posed in front of a mirror (she couldn't believe they had mirrors!) several times, studying herself.

"You look lovely, my dear."

Sakura smiled and posed one final time. She did look lovely. They didn't have these under the sea.

Once she was ready, Sakura followed the maid down into the main hall where Sasuke stood, looking positively dashing in simple, yet elegant clothes much like hers, except not a dress. Maybe _this_ was the purpose of wearing these 'clothe' things and not being 'naked' up here. Every merperson had a different coloured tail to distinguish each other. Up here, everyone had pale skin, so they wore clothes to hide the fact that they were all the same, and to make it easier to find each other.

Although that didn't explain why they switched them up every day. That didn't make much sense.

As Sakura approached, Sasuke held out his hand. Sakura slid hers into his without hesitating. As always, his hand was comfortingly warm.

"Have you ever ridden in a carriage?" Sasuke asked as he led her out the biggest set of magic walls she had seen yet.

Sakura frowned. She didn't know what a carriage was. She had ridden in an oyster pulled by sea horses, but other than that...

If she had her voice, she would've squealed with delight. It was a wooden thingamabob, with round things on them. It was hooked up to two animals that looked identical: white and magnificent.

"Here, come meet them." Sasuke stated, pulling her towards the white beasts. One of them leaned towards her, its nostrils flaring as if trying to pick up a scent.

Sasuke pried open her hand and placed an orange stick in her palm.

"Keep your hand flat and hold it out to the horse." Sasuke said softly.

So this was a horse. She kept her hand flat and held out the orange thing. The horse lipped it up. Sakura giggled silently. Oh how she wished she had a voice.

Sasuke let her feed an orange stick to the other horse before leading her into the wooden thingamabob on round things. He helped her get into it before climbing in himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Itachi watched the two depart from his bedroom window. Ever since he found that girl, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. He didn't know what it was, but he knew there was something that just didn't seem right.

For one, she was a mermaid. He knew that much. Or at least, it was a hunch. A most likely very accurate hunch. But if that was true, then that girl... She had somehow lost her fins and was now walking on land. She couldn't speak to boot. If a human lost their voice, it was usually from weakened vocal cords. Their voice would return after awhile.

But this girl couldn't make a sound. Not a sound. The only sounds she could potentially make was a faint whisper of breath. No, her voice was legitimately gone. Poof.

Itachi turned away from the window and grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair. He threw it over his shoulders. Those two merpeople he had seen the same day he found her. They seemed to know her. If he could find them, maybe, just maybe he could find some way to help that girl.

Itachi contemplated all the potential reasons this girl could've walked from the ocean and onto land. One thing that popped into his mind that fit frighteningly well was that she could be a spy from the merpeople, gathering information on humans and would return to the ocean once finished. It even had an excuse for as to why she didn't even have a voice. It was to prevent her from revealing anything about the merpeople to the humans.

Itachi shoved the giant doors at the entrance to the castle open and stepped into the sunlight. The doors groaned behind him as he headed for the docks. From this distance, the ocean looked wonderful and smooth. There was a sharp wind, but not too much. Perfect conditions for sailing. However, today his mission wasn't to sail, it was to find those merpeople. He was counting on it.

The docks were empty today. For this, Itachi was grateful. Now that he was closer, he could tell the water was a bit choppier than what was considered good for sailing. It made him wonder if a storm was coming in.

_Or maybe,_ his merpeople occupied mind began, _there's a king of the sea and he's not too happy right now._ Itachi chuckled and shook his head at the joke. It was possible, but there was no way the anger of one merperson could cause an ocean to completely lose it.

Itachi pulled off his jacket and tossed it onto the dock before pulling off his shoes and climbing the docks railing. He stood carefully, balancing as the wind whipped through his hair and rattled his dress shirt and sent his tie twirling. The maids wouldn't be too happy to find out that Itachi had destroyed yet another outfit (honestly, the shoes were the most expensive part of the ensemble) but that didn't matter to him.

Itachi bent his knees and leapt off the dock in a shallow dive, arcing smoothly beneath the waves. He stayed under the waves, using the deadly undertow to boost his speed and distance. Undertow was nothing to him now. It was more like his friend now than anything else.

Itachi surfaced and flipped his wet hair out of his face. The water was pleasant today. Warm and calm enough once you got away from shore. He took the time to close his eyes and float there, feeling the ocean breeze caress his cheeks and feeling the waves gently rocking him into a state of contentment. Nobody would ever understand his love for the ocean. It was like a love-hate relationship, because his parents were killed many years ago in a violent storm that caused them to go overboard. Actually, his mom went first, but his father leapt after her, trying to save her. They were never seen again.

Itachi respected the ocean and all of its power. He respected the deadly storms it could churn up, and he respected the enormous waves that could capsize a ship in seconds. He respected its power to hold life, and to give life to those who knew how to use those resources. Yes, the ocean was a wonderful thing.

"Is it...dead?" Someone whispered not too far away.

"Don't get too close to it."

"But..."

The silence resumed. Itachi continued to float, not opening his eyes just in case they were merpeople. They _had_ referred to him as an 'it', and not a 'he' so he could see that being likely.

"Oh god, I think it's one of those humans that took Sakura away..."

Sakura?

Now he opened his eyes in surprise.

"So what do you want to do about it?" Itachi took in the voice, hearing the soft tenor of a male.

"Maybe he knows where she went...Maybe he can help us!" This one was a female. She had a nice voice.

"No way, Tenten. I am not trusting a human."

Itachi slowly turned his head in their general direction. Yes! That was them! Those were the two merpeople who were with that girl!

"Whoa, he's alive!" The mermaid gasped.

"Stay away from it." The merman growled in a shaky voice.

Itachi looked away from them and raised his head, trying to figure out where he was. He had drifted away from the docks quite a ways, but he couldn't leave. Not now that they were there.

Itachi changed his position so that he was treading water. The two merpeople were watching carefully. The boy was holding onto the girl pretty tightly.

"You..." Itachi said quietly, trying not to make them think he was a threat. "You were with that pink haired girl."

The boy began swimming backwards, dragging the girl with him.

"Wait, please don't go." Itachi held up a hand. "Please."

"And why should we not?" The boy snarled. "I don't trust you humans!"

"That's fine." Itachi stated. "But..." he sunk slightly as a small wave bumped into the side of his head. He was drifting faster now. He would have to swim somewhere else. "Will you please follow me? Just for a second, okay?"

"Why?" The boy growled. "So you can ambush us?"

"Neji!" The girl cried.

"That rock there." Itachi pointed. "That way I don't drift too far. I need to talk to you."

"For what?" The boy didn't trust him one bit.

"Neji, please, he knows about Sakura..." The girl whispered.

The boy made a growling sound that sent chills down Itachi's spine. The girl made eye contact with him after shoving the boy away.

"If he won't follow, I will." She stated.

Itachi nodded and began swimming towards the rock. He watched the emerald shadow of the mermaid's fin swim under him, keeping easy pace with him. The blue one of the boy was following and still seemed to be trying to stop her.

When Itachi reached the rock, he pulled himself onto a smaller rock that was still submerged under the water, but not deep enough that he couldn't actually sit on it. The water went no higher than his waist. He watched the mermaid surface, her brown hair tied up in a peculiar twin bun style. The boy surfaced not too far away, his pearl white eyes glaring daggers in his direction.

"Where's Sakura?" The girl asked.

"Sakura is..." Itachi watched her carefully. "Is she that pink haired girl? The one who can't speak?"

The girl nodded.

"So her name is Sakura." Itachi sighed. "That's one mystery solved."

"Where is she?" The girl asked again.

"She's on land. With my brother, Sasuke." Itachi stated. "He's showing her around the area."

"Is he that human she's in love with?" The boy asked in an obnoxious tone.

Itachi twitched at the tone, but turned towards him. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about."

"Sakura fell in love with a human boy she rescued from drowning." The girl stated. "Is he the one?"

Itachi thought about that. He never actually saw the girl, but Sasuke hadn't stopped going on about her since that day. Ever since Sakura appeared, Sasuke's been a hell of a lot brighter.

"I...think so." He said slowly.

The boy scoffed.

Itachi shot him a look.

"You think?" The girl said slowly.

Itachi hesitated for a second then nodded. "Yes. I'm pretty sure." He stated. "Sasuke's been going on about the girl that rescued him, and how she was singing..." He trailed off wondering if that was information overload. "He did mention pink hair."

"Sounds like Sakura to me." The girl stated.

"If you don't mind..." Itachi began slowly. "If Sakura was a mermaid, how did she...become human?"

"That's none of your business!" The boy snarled.

The girl whirled on the boy, but not before Itachi's temper snapped.

"All right, you are seriously pissing me off now." Itachi growled. "I haven't done _anything_ to you, so what makes me deserve your rudeness?"

"You humans are all the same!" The boy snarled. "You're evil! You're horrid!"

"Oh yeah? Why is that? Because we eat fish?"

The boy's pearl eyes darkened in a way that sent a chill down Itachi's spine. "You humans murdered my father."

.oOo.

It was as if the world had just gone silent. Itachi couldn't hear the wind or the waves, or even the sound of his own heartbeat.

"Your...father?" Itachi whispered.

"You heard me." The boy snarled.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry..." Itachi tracked his gaze across everything but that boy. He couldn't believe it. "Oh my god..." He said again, rubbing his face. "Oh my god..."

Tenten noticed that he was shaking in a way that looked like he was about to start crying.

Itachi finally looked back at the boy. "I'm so sorry. I tried..." He shook his head slowly.

The boy frowned. "What do you mean?"

Itachi looked at the boys eyes. Yes they were the same. The fin colour was the same too, save for maybe it was a darker shade of blue.

"About ten years ago my father took me out fishing. We were using a trawler with a giant net."

The boys' eyes were widening as Itachi went on with his story.

"When my father pulled it up, there...there was a merperson in it with all of the fish. Both of us were awestruck, but my father pulled through faster than I did. He... He wanted to sell it." Itachi rubbed his nose. "I wanted to know why he wanted to sell it. Apparently it could sell for a large amount of money." He looked at the boy. "I tried to convince him to let it go, but... he just ignored me and headed back to shore. While his back was turned, I tried to push him back into the water, but my father caught me and cuffed me for it before making me sit where he could see me at all times.

"Then I watched as he tried to flop off the ship. I did everything I could not to look towards him and talked to my father, pretending to apologize profusely when really the sound of my voice was supposed to cover up the flopping noises. Then he knocked something over, alerting my father to what was happening and before I could stop him, he..." Itachi shook his head. He couldn't manage the words. All he could do was pound his fist into the palm of his hand, because that's what his father had done. Clubbed him in the head like a fish. A _fish_.

"As...As soon as we docked, my father took off looking for someone to sell it to. I approached him to see that he was still alive. Stunned, but somehow still alive. But I knew that he wouldn't live. How could he?" Itachi sighed. "But he did say something to me." He thought about that merman lying in a pool of blood on the deck of his ship. He remembered the sound of his weak and tired voice. "He said... 'thank you for trying to help, but it wasn't meant to be.'" Itachi paused for a moment, remembering the next thing he said. "Then he told me that if I was merciful, I would push him back into the water so he could become part of the sea once more. He then told me that if I ever saw his son, to tell him that..." Itachi bit his lip. "He loves you."

The wind blew softly across their bodies in a way that made Itachi's eyes burn. The boy looked like he was crying.

"He went quiet after that..." Itachi said softly, his voice hoarse. "I pushed him back into the water where he just...turned into bubbles..."

"Why?"

Itachi looked at the boy. His pearl eyes were wide and confused.

"Why did you push him back?"

"I..." Itachi glanced at both of the merpeople. "I didn't like the thought of..." He ran a hand through his hair. "Okay I admit it. You guys are...incredible creatures. I couldn't stand the thought of something so wonderful being tacked up on a wall somewhere or being used as..." Itachi sighed and shook his head. "Yes, humans are barbaric sometimes. If I know hunters, when the kill something they're proud of, chances are they'll mount it so they can show it off later. I didn't want to ever see a merman in such a position. It wouldn't sit well with me."

The boy nodded slowly.

The mermaid swam a bit closer and propped her arms up on the rock to support herself. The merman swam after her and did the same right beside her.

"So I think we can trust you..." The girl stated. "My name is Tenten."

Itachi smiled and rotated his body so he was facing them better. "My name is Itachi."

The boy was silent for a moment. "Neji." He said softly. "My name is Neji. And thanks, for what you did."

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't." Itachi said honestly. "Now...What did I ask before?"

"You asked what happened to Sakura." Tenten stated.

Itachi thought about that for a second, then nodded. "Yeah."

"My mother is the queen of the sea." Tenten stated.

Itachi raised his eyebrows. "Queen...So there really is a great ruler..." He murmured.

Tenten giggled. "Yeah. When I saw Sakura rescue that boy,"

"Sasuke." Itachi stated.

"Yeah...Sasuke..." Tenten said slowly.

"Will you just shut up and let her tell the story?" Neji sighed.

"Sorry." Itachi stated.

Tenten sighed and gritted her teeth for a moment. "When I saw Sakura rescue Sasuke, I...told my mother. She wasn't happy. I don't know what happened after that, but when Neji and I went looking for Sakura, we found her travelling with a pair of eels. She told us she was going to see the Sea Witch."

Itachi's brow twitched. Now there was a Sea Witch. Great seas, Itachi laughed at his own pun, what was next?

"We followed her." Tenten continued. "She...gave her voice to the Sea Witch and in exchange, she turned her into a human. We dragged her to the surface as fast as we could."

Itachi nodded. "This is a Sea Witch we're talking about here though." He stated. "Was there a catch in the bargain?"

Tenten and Neji nodded simultaneously.

"Sakura has to get the boy she loves to kiss her before the sun sets on the third day." Tenten stated. "If he doesn't, then she'll turn back into a mermaid and the Sea Witch will take her."

Itachi processed this information. If that was true, then he had already interrupted Sakura and Sasuke as much as he cringed to admit it. If he hadn't walked in last night, and maybe even this morning, they would've kissed. Sasuke was right. He had _really_ bad timing when it came to actually showing up.

Itachi nodded. "Okay. I'm going to do everything in my power to help you, and Sakura, all right?"

Tenten nodded.

Itachi slid off the rock and back into the water. "I might be able to track them down and keep my eyes on them."

"So you'll tell us if they kiss?" Tenten asked.

Itachi nodded. "Though it does make me feel dirty just thinking about spying."

Neji snorted and Tenten smirked.

"Good," Tenten stated. "If you didn't feel guilty, then I would think something was wrong with you."

Itachi began swimming towards the docks. The merpeople followed him. One of them latched onto his arm and began towing him through the water. He looked up in surprise at Tenten who smiled at him. Neji grabbed his other arm and they pulled him through the water.

"Ugh, I hate swimming like this." Neji groaned.

"Go under then." Itachi stated. "If I need air, I'll squeeze your arms."

The merpeople nodded and watched as Itachi took a few deep breaths and held it. He let his head go under and felt completely free as he was towed across the ocean floor. He could just relax and conserve his oxygen as they towed him towards the shore.

His head resurfaced and he took the chance to breathe.

"How long can you hold your breath?" Tenten asked.

"I could've held it for another minute or so." Itachi stated. He looked up at the dock above his head and pulled himself from the water. "I swim a lot. Like I said before, I'm fascinated by your kind. I spend a lot of time looking for them just so I can see them."

"How often do you find them?" Tenten asked.

"More often than you think." He said with a smile. "I usually see them from a distance, though. Deep underwater."

"Here." Tenten held up what looked like half a clamshell. "You can use it to contact us. Neji has the other half."

"How do I work it?" Itachi asked, examining the shell.

"You put the hollow side to your ear." Tenten stated.

Curiously, Itachi put the shell to his ear. He got nothing. Neji pulled out the other half and put it to his ear before sinking under the water.

"_Can you hear me?"_ came loud and clear from the clamshell. Itachi almost dropped it in his surprise.

"That is freaking awesome." He stated.

He heard Neji's laugh from the other side before he returned to the surface. He had to admit, merpeople looked magnificent underwater, but as soon as they came above water, their hair was plastered to their skulls making them look like swamp monsters.

"It'll sort of...vibrate if we're trying to contact you." Tenten stated.

"Brilliant." Itachi stood up on the dock and slid the shell into his pocket. His shoes and jacket were still there, so he pulled them on. "I'll see you later."

Tenten waved and Neji merely nodded before they both disappeared beneath the water. Itachi turned away and took off at a run.

.oOo.

Sasuke finished setting out the picnic lunch he had brought with him and turned his gaze towards the girl as she danced through the meadow. She was so beautiful. Sasuke just wanted to scoop her up into his arms and twirl her around so she laughed.

Sasuke's brow furrowed. That wasn't going to happen. He would never hear her laugh. She was mute, for goodness sakes. She wanted to hear that beautiful voice again. That's all he'd wanted ever since he first heard it.

She bounced back to him, a bouquet of wild flowers in her hands, and a bright smile on her face.

Sasuke's heart clenched. No. Forget it. So what if she was mute? That wonderful smile and bright green eyes was all he needed. She held the flowers out towards him.

Sasuke smirked. "I don't think so." He stated. "You have it all wrong."

The smile on her face was replaced with confusion.

Sasuke gently took the flowers from her hand. "You see, it's customary for the men to give the women flowers." Sasuke selected a daisy from the bouquet and slipped it behind her ear. She shivered slightly at his touch.

For several minutes, he gazed into her eyes, losing himself in the emerald depths.

"You know..." He murmured softly. "I...I still don't know your name."

Her eyes lit up at that.

"So help me out, okay? Does your name start with A?"

She shook her head and began tapping her wrist.

"B?" Sasuke asked.

She shook her head again and made a counter clockwise circle with her hand before tapping her wrist again. Sasuke assumed she wanted him to backtrack.

"A?"

She gave a single nod and tapped her wrist again.

Sasuke frowned. "B?" He asked slowly.

She single nodded again, and once again, tapped her wrist.

"C." Sasuke stated, catching on. Every time she tapped her wrist, Sasuke counted upwards in the alphabet. "D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Q. R. S."

Sakura nodded big.

"S?" Sasuke asked.

She nodded again.

"Your name stars with S?"

She nodded.

Sasuke nodded. "So let me try to get your name. Sarah?"

She shook her head.

"Sora?"

Another shake. She tapped her wrist once.

"A?" Sasuke frowned.

She nodded.

Sasuke tried to figure out what she was saying. Then it clicked.

"Wait, that was the second letter?"

She grinned and nodded.

"Sa." Sasuke stated.

She nodded.

"Give me the third letter."

She began to tap her wrist. Sasuke counted up the letters with ever tap, whispering the letter so she could hear it. She stopped him at 'K'.

"S. A. K." Sasuke stated, checking with her.

She nodded and began tapping again.

"P. Q. R. S. T. U."

She stopped.

"S. A. K. U?"

She nodded, confirming it.

"Your name is Saku?"

She shook her head and tapped her wrist again.

Sasuke smirked. He was really enjoying this game.

"N. O. P. Q. R."

She stopped again.

"S. A. K. U. R." Sasuke spelled out.

She nodded and tapped her wrist once.

_A._ Sasuke thought to himself.

When he didn't respond, she tapped her wrist again.

"Is the last letter A?"

She nodded.

"S. A. K. U. R. A." Sasuke spelled.

She nodded.

"Sa...Saku...Sakura...Sakura!" He practically shouted her name as the epiphany struck.

Sakura nodded, a wide grin playing across her face.

Sasuke smiled at her. "Sakura." He said softly. Her emerald eyes seemed to sparkle slightly when he said her name. She was close. So now. It should be now.

He reached up and touched her cheek. Her head leaned into the touch.

"Sakura." He said again. A small smile played across his lips as he immediately grabbed her full attention. "Come here." He murmured.

She obliged, sliding closer to him. He placed his other hand on the other side of her face. She continued to look at him with those bright green eyes. Her hands reached up to touch his face in return. Sasuke shivered at the feeling of her cool hands on his cheeks.

Sasuke saw her lips move. She had said something. No sound came out of course, but his brow furrowed as he mimicked the movements of her mouth with his, trying to figure out what she could possibly have said.

Sakura made the same movements with her mouth. He followed them intently this time. He knew the first sound. He guessed it was a 'sa' sound. The last one was easy too. 'eh'.

Then it clicked. She was saying his name. 'Sasuke.'

"Sakura." He sighed, pressing his forehead into hers. "Kiss me." He breathed.

He felt her shiver beneath his hands. Sasuke closed his eyes, turning his head closer to her lips. She felt her warm breath just as her lips brushed his.

Sasuke yelped, leaping away from Sakura and slamming a hand down onto his arm. The pain flared even worse the second he did so, making him regret it deeply. Not to mention the guts all over his hand and arm.

Sakura looked completely concerned, staring at the black thing sticking out of his arm. Sasuke cringed as he pulled be body of the dead wasp off his arm.

"Ow..." He hissed.

Sakura reached over to touch it.

"No, don't touch it." Sasuke whispered. "Damn..." He stood up. "Help me pack this up. The stingers still stuck in my arm so we have to get back to the castle."

Sakura nodded and began helping him pack up the picnic.

Sasuke sighed irritably. If it wasn't his brother, it was nature playing tricks on him. Was the whole world against him being with this girl?

.oOo.

Itachi spotted Sasuke's horses off in the distance. They were returning to the castle. He had expected them to come later, but hey, he wasn't complaining.

"Oi! Itachi!"

Itachi sighed. He was a horrible spy. He'd been caught already.

"Get in." Sasuke stated, barely even slowing down for Itachi to jump in. That didn't matter anyway. He climbed onto the cart effortlessly and easily.

"Did something happen?" Itachi asked, taking a seat on the other side of the girl, no, Sakura.

"Yeah. I got stung by a bee."

Itachi spotted the red, rapidly swelling spot on Sasuke's arm. "Ouch. What did you do? Smash it on your arm?"

"Yeah I did."

"Nice going, butthead." Itachi snorted.

"Shut up, Itachi." Sasuke muttered.

.oOo.

Sakura stared at her entwined fingers resting in her lap. She had just barely felt Sasuke's lips on his. Did that count as a kiss? Sakura didn't think so. And what was that thing that caused Sasuke so much distress?

Sasuke pulled the horses to a stop just outside the castle.

"Itachi, help Sakura unload the carriage. I'm going to the medic." Sasuke stated, jumping out of the wooden thingamabob and heading into the castle.

"Sakura...He knows your name?" Itachi looked at her sideways.

Sakura frowned and nodded.

"Sakura, I met some of your friends earlier today." Itachi said softly.

Sakura's eyes widened. He met...

"Their names were Tenten and Neji. They're worried about you."

Sakura's lips parted in surprise. Tenten and Neji... they were looking for her...

"I know what happened to you, and I know what you need to do." Itachi continued. "Sakura, I will help you in any way I can, all right?"

Sakura nodded.

"Come on. Let's get everything unpacked and go see how Sasuke's doing."

.oOo.

Sasuke was stuck in the infirmary for the next few hours. Sakura and Itachi had come to visit him, but they were soon ushered out. Sasuke didn't see what the big deal was. It was just a bee sting. Yeah, he knew that some people reacted really bad to bug bites and stings, but Sasuke was fine.

The sun had set by the time Sasuke was allowed to leave. He trudged to Sakura's room, hoping she was still awake. As stupid and insane as it sounded, he only thing that was on his mind was to finish what he started.

He opened the door to Sakura's room and closed the door behind him.

"Sakura?" He said softly. He approached the bed where she lay. When he got close, a small smile crept onto his face. Fast asleep.

Very carefully, so as to not wake her, he brushed a lock of hair from her face and kissed her temple.

"Goodnight, Sakura." He whispered.

He retreated from the room, closing the door softly behind him. Sasuke walked through the dim halls towards his bedroom. Once there, he pushed open the glass doors to his balcony, closing his eyes and smiling as a blast of salty sea wind slammed into his face. He walked over to the railing and leaned against it.

Then on the wind, he heard it. His heart leapt in a painful, wrenching way as the sweet notes met his ears.

_But...She's mute..._ Was Sasuke's only thought.

Sasuke whipped around and ran through the halls of the castle. If he was really hearing it, then he could find the sound of her voice. Somehow, he could still hear that song in his ears. It faded out as he approached Sakura's room. He threw open the door only to see her still sleeping soundly in her bed. Sasuke closed the door again, thinking that it was definitely a hallucination when it started up again.

_Downstairs?_

Sasuke ran down the stairs, following the voice. It led him right out the front doors and into thick mist that had rolled in from the sea. The voice was louder now.

He ran and ran, eventually finding his way onto the beach where a woman stood, her hair blowing back in a violent stream, her dress billowing out behind her. He stood still, gasping for air as she turned towards him.

Sasuke found himself frozen to the spot as she stepped towards him. The voice became clearer as she approached. The song took his breath away. He couldn't think of anything but that melody. His knees began going weak as his mind went fuzzy. A pair of hands softly touched his face.

"Sasuke." The voice said softly.

Sasuke couldn't speak. Something about this situation didn't feel right.

"Do you remember my voice?"

Sasuke swallowed, his heart felt like it was being ripped out.

Then she began singing. His every worry was wiped away in an instant.

"Yes." He whispered. "I remember you, Karin."


	4. Chapter 4

Sakura skipped around her room, looking for a dress to wear. Today, it had to be today. Sasuke had to kiss her today. If he didn't...well she didn't even want to think about that.

Sakura slid on an elegant jade coloured gown just as an urgent knock echoed through her room. The door opened an instant later to a frantic looking Itachi.

"Sakura. We've got trouble."

.oOo.

"So, Sasuke, this is the girl you wish to marry?"

"Yes." Sakura's heart leapt at the sound of Sasuke's voice. She picked up her pace a little bit. Itachi trotted by her side.

"When do you propose to be married?"

"Tonight. Just before sunset."

Sasuke was going to marry her! Sakura kept thinking excitedly.

Then she rounded the corner, taking in the sight of a red haired woman standing by Sasuke's side, holding onto his arm. She felt a sharp pain in her chest.

"Sakura, I'm so sorry." Itachi said softly in her ear. "I don't know what happened."

"We will ready the ship, and call upon the guests!"

"Come, Sasuke. Let's take a pre-marriage walk."

"Of course, love."

The pain in Sakura's chest worsened. Sasuke was... Sakura slid to the floor and began shaking with violent, yet silent sobs. She felt Itachi's arms wrap tightly around her, offering as much comfort as he could. No matter how comforting the embrace was, it didn't stop the numbing pain that was tearing through her chest.

.oOo.

Itachi could only watch painfully as the day continued onward. The whole castle was celebrating, but Itachi merely pretended to.

"Itachi."

Itachi turned around to look at his younger brother. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. His face was blank. Completely blank, his eyes glazed over, showing none of that warmth he always held.

"Sasuke." Itachi forced a smile. "Congratulations. Though I have to wonder what happened to Sakura." He finished stiffly.

The woman by his side pouted and squeezed his arm. "Who's this 'Sakura', Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked down at the girl. "No one, love."

Itachi stiffened. Something wasn't right at all.

Sasuke looked back towards him. "I was just inviting you to come to the wedding. They're loading up the guests now if you're interested."

_Sakura..._ Was Itachi's first thought.

"Of course, you're my older brother. It wouldn't be the same if you didn't come." Sasuke stated.

Itachi glanced at the woman beside him. Her eyes locked with his, endless, lifeless and cold. Before he realized what he was doing, he had said: "Of course. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Sasuke smiled at him. "Thank you, brother."

Itachi nodded in his direction as the pair strolled by. As soon as they were out of sight, Itachi fell to his knees, pressing a palm to his throbbing head.

"Holy shit..." He whispered. "That woman...She isn't human..."

.oOo.

Itachi stepped onto the ship, feeling guilty about the whole thing. He was leaving Sakura to fend for herself, but there was something he needed to do. He desperately needed to do it.

The ship was practically empty as he walked through the cargo hold. Eventually, he came across a door that read "Karin's Dressing Room" in a plaque done with silver paint. Instinct told him that this was the woman's room. Before he could think up an excuse not to do it, Itachi whipped into the room and closed the door behind him. A quick sweep of the room told him that this was indeed the room of the bride. The pure white, regal dress hanging up was a dead giveaway.

As he heard footsteps approaching, Itachi dove out of sight behind a table that was thankfully covered in silk cloth. Itachi lay on his stomach, watching out from a small seam in the fabric. He heard melodious humming that just sounded too pure to belong to someone like her.

"Ah, it's just too easy."

Itachi's ears pricked up.

"Who would've thought the boy would fall for such a simple trick!"

Itachi watched as the woman twirled around, holding the wedding dress up to her chest. He watched as she set it down, sneering to herself. Itachi squeezed his eyes shut as she began to change into the wedding dress. He wasn't a pervert, and he never would be.

"Ah, this was just the right choice. I should've done this from the beginning. They came too close. Way too close. Twice for that matter." Itachi opened his eyes as the woman gave an irritated sigh. "Who would've thought that they might have actually kissed by sunset on the third day! I doubted that girl, but clearly that Sasuke," she spat Sasuke's name out in the most disrespectful way, making Itachi frown, "was a force to be reckoned with. I didn't even know they had met before. I came too close to failure."

Itachi listened carefully as the woman began to sing again, this time her voice straining and messing with that pure voice that just didn't match her.

"Soon I'll have that little mermaid, and the ocean will be mine!"

Itachi watched as the woman stepped up to the mirror. He suppressed a gasp as the reflection appeared as an ugly, fat octopus woman.

"Because Karin," The woman said sweetly. "The Great Sea Witch, says so." She smiled at the mirror and the whole thing shattered and fell to pieces.

Itachi's heart pounded. So this was the Sea Witch.

"As much as I love the idea of silly humans trembling in fear of my power, one thing I can't stand..." Karin picked up a piece of the mirror. "Are humans who don't know their place!" The words came out in a roar as she whirled towards the table and pitched the shard of mirror in Itachi's direction.

Itachi flinched, bringing up his arm to protect his face. He cried out as the sharp piece of glass sunk deep into his forearm.

The fabric covering him lifted up, and Karin's evil grin entered his line of vision.

Without really thinking about it, Itachi pulled the glass from his arm and slashed Karin across the face. She yelped as Itachi rolled out from beneath the table.

"You..." She glared daggers at Itachi, lowering her hand to reveal a gouge across her cheek. "How dare you desecrate a woman's face!"

"Sorry sweetheart, but you don't qualify as a woman in my eyes." Itachi stated.

Karin's eyes narrowed. Itachi's eyes widened as the slash on her face healed rapidly, soon disappearing into nothing, blood included.

"You..." She hissed. "I remember you! I've been watching those pathetic friends of Sakura's! You've been in contact them huh?"

Itachi didn't answer. He continued staring intently at Karin, his arm throbbing painfully.

"So you love the merpeople, huh?" Karin's lips twisted into an evil grin. "Care to join them?"

Itachi frowned wondering just what she was talking about.

Karin raised her hand. The black light moved so fast, that to Itachi it looked like he had gotten sucked into a black hole. What felt like electricity violently jolted through his body. He gasped, flying backwards through the glass window at the back of the dressing room. When he began falling downwards, his last sight was Karin's evil grin staring down at him from the broken window.

"Have fun!" She called out, waving at him before turning away with a swish of pure white satin.

Itachi slammed into the water and instantly sunk beneath the waves. Pain flared throughout his entire body as he continued to sink uncontrollably. He attempted to kick his legs, but yelped a stream of bubbles from his mouth. He could feel them there but it was like they were stuck together.

The pain in his chest grew sharper, causing him to cry out and inhale the sea water around him. He choked violently, the pain getting worse. Why hadn't he drowned yet? He begged the ocean to just take the life from his veins; to put him out of this horrible, wrenching agony.

"Itachi!"

"Tenten! Be careful! He's cursed!"

"What?"  
>He yelped again, a stream of bubbles pouring from his mouth.<p>

A pair of hands wrapped around his body. He screamed again.

"Neji!"

"Queen Tsunade. She has to be able to help. She just _has _to."

"Help me!"

Another pair of hands wrapped around him as he began to move through the water. He risked opening his eyes, instantly regretting it. Now the pain was in his eyes too. He yelped, but he could see just slightly. What he saw horrified him.

Where his legs used to be was now a black tailfin.

He cried out again, the water searing his lungs in a horrible way.

Then he remembered Sasuke.

"No!" He gasped out. "Sasuke! Sasuke's going to marry that witch! Sakura! You have to help Sakura!"

"Itachi stay calm."

Itachi bit back another scream.

"Mom! Mom we need you! Please!"

"What's wrong, Tenten?"

"Please! Help him! Please! He's protecting Sakura!"

Itachi cried out again, unable to hold it in. It was getting worse. Every second that passed, it got worse.

"Great Neptune..."

"Can you help him?"

"He's a human!"

"I know!"

"Your Majesty, he was protecting Sakura!"

"Sakura went to the Sea Witch and got turned into a human so she could go after the human she loved! Itachi contacted us to try and help Sakura! If the human didn't kiss her by sunset on the third day, the Sea Witch would take her! Itachi protected her! Please! Help him!"

"Why wasn't I informed of this?"

Itachi yelped again.

"I was afraid, mum! Please! Put it aside! Help him! Please!"

Itachi forced her eyes open and looked at the Queen of the Sea. "The Sea Witch has my brother..." He choked. "She did this to me..." He cried out again.

"He's a good human!"

"And how do you know that, Neji?"

"You know the man who killed my father? He's his son! When his father had his back turned, he pushed my father back into the ocean so his body could return to the sea!"

Itachi couldn't hold back the most agonized wail yet, complete with violently thrashing around which didn't help one bit.

"MUM PLEASE!"

"ALL RIGHT! Let him go!"

The hands on him disappeared just as sweet relief flooded through his body. The pain was swept away, a feeling of warmth in its wake. It remained that way. Itachi felt his back touch the rocky bottom of the ocean, but he didn't do anything about it. He opened his eyes, gazing at a beautiful palace. So he was in heaven. Finally.

"Itachi, are you all right?"

Itachi turned his head towards the voice to see Tenten and Neji.

"T-Tenten...Neji..." He whispered.

They breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh good, you're all right." Tenten smiled. "Can you swim?"

"Swim? I..." He paddled with his arms and attempted to kick his feet. He didn't go anywhere. What he did find was that just like before, his feet had been replaced with a tailfin. Only this one was bright red.

"This is only temporary, human."

Itachi flipped over to look at the Sea Queen.

"As soon as you surface again, you'll become human, and you will remain human. This is just so you can get out of my castle and protect my daughters."

Itachi bowed his head. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Hm. I see they teach you manners up there."

"Oh no, I'm a spoiled brat." He flashed her a weak smile. "Up there, I'm known as 'Your Majesty'."

"Itachi, now's not the time for small talk!" Tenten cried, grabbing his arm and hauling him upwards. "Swim, damn it!"

"How?" Itachi cried.

"Flip your freaking tail for crying out loud!" Neji cried, showing off by streaking gracefully through the water. Itachi barely saw his tail moving.

"Make like a wave motion." Tenten made a waving motion with her hand.

Itachi decided to try what he had a habit of doing when he was swimming underwater anyway. He did a single breast stroke and then attempted to do a wave.

"There you go. Now come on!" Neji cried.

Itachi kept up his waving thing, moving at an agonizingly slow pace. Tenten gave up and grabbed his arm to drag him upwards. Itachi let her do it, gazing around at the ornate palace beneath the water. He would never see it again, but he was lucky he was seeing it now. He held every minute, every second he spent with a tailfin underwater as long as he could so he would never forget a second of it.

When he surfaced by the docks he had met Neji and Tenten at, he became human again too soon. What was completely lucky was that he still had all of his clothes. Brilliant.

"Find Sakura!" Tenten cried.

Itachi didn't hesitate and ran through the streets and into the castle. "SAKURA!" He roared at the top of his lungs. "SAKURAAAA!"

"Oh, Itachi...I thought you were already on the boat! It departed awhile ago."

"Forget that, where's Sakura?" Itachi practically yelled at the butler.

"Last I saw she was watching the ship depart. Crying, she was. I left her there."

"Where was she?"

"In her room, master."

Itachi tore up the stairs and shoved the door open. Sakura looked at him with wide eyes. No wonder too. His best suit was soaking wet and his hair was plastered to his face.

"Let's go. Now. Don't ask questions."

She didn't, not that she could. She leapt into his arms without hesitation. Itachi barely spared her a glance as he led her at breakneck speed back down the stairs and out the door. Itachi was proud that she was able to keep up with him at such a speed with her being a mermaid and all. But the worst part was the sun was beginning to set. They had thirty minutes at best, and then they were screwed. Actually, they probably had less. For all Itachi knew, his brother was already married to that witch.

"Sakura!" Tenten cried when Itachi appeared with her.

Sakura broke from Itachi's grip and leapt into the water to hug Tenten. If the situation wasn't so serious, he would've thought the leap was comical.

Itachi threw his jacket aside and pulled off his shoes before jumping in as well. "We've got to move fast."

"Grab on." Neji stated. Itachi did, grabbing onto Neji's shoulders tightly. "Squeeze when you need air."

Sakura had Tenten by the shoulders and Tenten was telling her the same thing.

"Neji, just go as fast as you can." Tenten stated. "I'll keep up if I can. Stall the wedding until we arrive."

"Just gun it, Neji." Itachi stated.

"What's gun it?"

"Full tilt. Go. Hyper drive. Full speed ahead. Giv'r."

Neji chuckled and sunk beneath the water. Itachi took a deep breath and clung to Neji as he swam beneath him. Tenten actually was keeping up so far at least. Itachi had a feeling that Tenten would need to surface to give Sakura air more often than Neji would have to. Tenten surfaced three times for every one time Neji had to. As the wedding ship came into view, they had left Tenten and Sakura behind by several meters.

Itachi surfaced for the final time by the ship. He grabbed onto the rungs of the ladder on the side of the boat and began climbing as fast as he could. As he climbed, he could faintly hear the vows being spoken. Just as he pulled himself high enough to see across the deck of the ship, he heard the words 'Speak now, or forever hold your peace.'

"I speak!" Itachi roared. The crowd gasped. He didn't blame them one bit. First of all, some idiot had just climbed over the side of the ship. Second of all, he was soaking wet. Third, he had just spoken in the exact place where he was supposed to forever hold his peace.

Itachi was pleased to say Karin looked mortified.

"Sasuke, get away from her!" Itachi roared, storming up to the altar and shoving the two apart. "She's a witch!"

The crowd gasped.

"Sasuke, are you really going to let your brother do this?" Karin asked, horror on her features.

"Itachi, I appreciate your concern, but I love Karin. Now if you don't sit down, I'm going to order your removal."

Karin gave a satisfied smirk. Itachi roared in frustration and practically attacked the woman. She screamed in fright just as Itachi felt several pairs of hands attempt to restrain him. Itachi's hand locked around a necklace with a snail shell pendant as they yanked him away from her. The pendant flew from his hand and shattered on the ground.

There was a violently bright flash of light the second it shattered.

"Itachi," He heard a shocked whisper. "Let him go!"

The hands released him and Itachi looked at Sasuke. He looked at him, his eyes clear and a surprised expression on his face.

"What just happened?" He asked.

Then everyone became aware of a faint singing. Sasuke's head snapped towards it in an instant. Itachi watched Sakura who had been watching ever since the shell had broken. His brow furrowed at the sight of a glowing orb that was floating gracefully from the shattered shell on the ground. Somehow, he knew the voice was coming from that orb.

It reached Sakura and her throat glowed for a moment before the final notes of the song were sung by Sakura herself.

Sasuke took a few stunned steps towards her. "S-Sakura?"

Sakura smiled. "Sasuke!"

"You can...talk?"

Sakura nodded.

"SASUKE! Get away from her!"

Itachi glared at Karin whose voice had come out in a horrible grating noise.

"Sasuke, I..."

Itachi turned towards Sakura and Sasuke just in time to see Sasuke lean towards her. From what he saw, their lips had just brushed when the last rays of sun sank below the horizon.

Sakura gave a wavering cry and sank to the ground. Sasuke took a few steps back in shock, staring at the shimmering green tailfin where her legs used to be.

Itachi became aware of a horrible, evil laugh.

"You're too late!"

He whipped around just in time to see Karin transform into a huge, ugly octopus. Itachi was still in shock when she grabbed Sakura and leapt into the ocean.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke cried.

Itachi ran to the side as well and looked down.

"Itachi, HELP ME!" Sasuke's eyes were pleading.

"You didn't have to ask." Itachi stated. He leapt over the side of the ship, diving straight down towards the waves.

.oOo.

Sakura struggled against Karin's grip.

"Sorry little princess, it's not you I'm after but a much bigger fish you know what I'm saying?" Karin said smugly.

"LET GO!" Sakura cried. She sprang free of her grip, and a dark light hit her.

Sakura cried out as the feeling of all of her energy draining out of her overwhelmed her senses. She whimpered and thrashed, bathed in golden light. Her skin was wrinkling and turning brown, and she swore she was shrinking.

"Karin! Stop this now!"

"M-Mom! Mom I'm sorry!" Sakura sobbed.

"Queen Tsunade, nice to see you."

"Release my daughter!" Tsunade pointed her trident towards Karin.

"Why don't we strike a deal," Karin produced another golden scroll, very similar to the one she had Sakura sign.

Sakura whimpered, feeling herself grow weaker and weaker.

"You, for your daughter." Karin held the scroll out. "Just sign here."

Tsunade took one look at her daughter before turning away from the scroll and unleashing a beam of magic. Tsunade's signature appeared on the scroll.

"HAH! So that's it!"

Sakura felt the life returning to her as the golden light enveloped Queen Tsunade instead. She didn't even cry out as she became a shrivelled version of the mermaid she once was standing about three inches high.

"Mom?" she whispered

The Tsunade she once new looked at her with overlarge, sad eyes. She didn't have to say a thing. With just those eyes, Tsunade gave her an apology, a lecture, and some encouragement.

"At last!"

Sakura looked at Karin to see her taking her mothers' crown and trident. "They're mine!" Karin laughed. "Oh, what's this?"

Sakura looked up to see Itachi swimming downwards.

"ITACHI NO! SHE'LL-"

"I SHOULD'VE KILLED YOU THE SECOND I FOUND YOU!" Karin roared.

"NO!" Sakura grabbed the trident and shifted the angle so that it shot in a different direction. To her utter surprise, the light smashed into the two eels that had brought her to Karin in the first place.

"You...No...Juugo...Suigetsu..."

Sakura swam for Itachi and dragged him to the surface. He gulped down the air.

"Itachi, where's Sasuke?"

"I'm here."

"Sasuke!" She turned towards his voice and looked at Neji and Tenten in surprise. They each had one of his arms draped over their shoulders.

"I know this is a really bad time, Sasuke, but..." Itachi smirked. "I told you merpeople existed."

Sasuke snorted. "Yeah. Really bad time. My head hurts like there's a sledgehammer pounding on the inside of my skull, and we're all soaking wet and in the middle of the ocean."

Neji suddenly looked down. "Oh shit." He whispered.

There was something similar to a violent whirlpool beneath the group as a gigantic version of Tsunade's crown rose up from the water. Sakura scrambled for a grip on the crown just as Karin's giant head rose from the water. Deep booming laughter combined with the thunder from the heavens.

"Sakura!"

"Sasuke!"

He clung to her like she was his last lifeline.

"TENTEN JUMP!" Sakura heard Neji cry. She watched as they fell from grace, diving straight down and disappearing with a splash.

"Please get away..." Sakura whispered.

"You pitiful fools!" Karin's booming voice thudded through her chest.

"WATCH OUT!" Itachi's voice screamed. He too leapt from the crown, freefalling further than he had ever fallen before.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke cried.

Sakura took his hand and jumped with him just as Karin's hand swept across the place they had been just seconds before. Halfway down Karin's body, Sasuke screamed his terror to the sky. Splashdown was painful. Sakura's hand slipped from Sasuke's just as Karin began to use the stolen trident to stir up a massive whirlpool. Sakura was trapped inside of it before she could even register what was happening.

"SASUKE!" She cried as she slammed into the sand at the bottom of the sea. The whirlpool parted, swirling violently around her. Above her, Karin grinned down at her. Sakura's eyes widened as she raised the trident.

.oOo.

Sasuke had somehow managed to latch onto a ship. It was a sunken ship that had been brought up from the bottom of the sea.

"ITACHI! SAKURA!" Sasuke cried.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke grabbed his brothers' hand gratefully and pulled himself onto the ship. Itachi ran towards the wheel of the ship and grabbed onto it. Sasuke followed him and grabbed onto it as well.

"To the right, Sasuke. We'll steer it right into her. The front should go right through her. It's broken, and it's sharp." Itachi stated. "On my mark. Ready?

Sasuke nodded.

"Steady..." Itachi murmured.

Sasuke watched the octopus shoot beams of light down into the whirlpool in front of her.

"NOW!"

In one movement, the two brothers shoved the wheel, turning the ship towards the Sea Witch.

.oOo.

Sakura sobbed, unable to believe she had dodged death several times over. She couldn't even move with her tail. Karin must have terrible aim, but she didn't want to push her luck.

Then a ship came sailing over the edge of the whirlpool. Sakura watched as it stabbed straight through the monster above her the second lightning struck the mast. The whirlpool began to fill in as Karin's furious cry thundered through the air. The ship sank along with Karin.

"Sasuke...SASUKE!" Sakura cried. "ITACHI! SASUKE!" She swam frantically, spotting two figures sinking off in the distance. Neji and Tenten swam towards them as well, grabbing Itachi just as she grabbed Sasuke.

Sakura swam his unconscious form to the shore, Neji and Tenten by her side.

Sasuke meanwhile was having the most severe case of déjà vu ever to be recorded in history.

.oOo.

"Okay, that is the most adventure I ever want in my lifetime, thank you very much." Neji cried as soon as the two humans were on shore. "I think I seriously cheated death like five times over."

Sakura laughed. "I hear you."

Tenten nodded in agreement.

Neji sighed, propping his arms on a rock. "And yet, if the opportunity ever arises again, I'd take it."

Tenten laughed. "Why? So you can die?"

"No." Neji shot her a wry grin. "Now that it's over, I can honestly say that was...fun!"

"Ugh, fun."

The group turned towards Itachi who was regaining consciousness. He stood up and joined the merpeople in the water.

"When I was a kid, my idea of fun was playing with toy cars and having my father take me on fake treasure hunts that usually ended with a chocolate bar." Itachi scratched his face.

"Chocolate?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I might find you here."

The group whipped around.

"M-Mom..." Sakura whimpered.

Tsunade smiled, once again in possession of the trident and crown.

Itachi bowed his head in her direction.

"Though I've said many times it's dangerous to go to the surface..." Tsunade sighed.

"Mom...I'm sorry...I didn't mean for this to happen..." Sakura sobbed.

"Do you really love that human boy that much?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes..." Sakura sobbed.

Itachi nodded in agreement. "My brother loves her more than anything else in this world."

Sakura didn't miss the way Neji seemed to hold Tenten tighter at those words.

A groan came from Sasuke's throat at that moment. Sakura gasped and began paddling towards him. Just as she began pulling herself onto the sand, a tingling warmth flooded her body. She gasped and looked at a pair of knees forming the beginnings of a crawl, a dazzling silver dress sparkling across her body.

"M-Mom...you..." Sakura stared at her mother.

Sasuke sat up. "Ughn...Sakura?"

Sakura's head snapped towards Sasuke. She leapt into his arms without hesitation.

"Now, where were we before that witch interrupted us?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

Sakura closed her eyes as Sasuke's hot lips pressed against hers. Finally. She got her kiss.

.oOo.

This time, Itachi was present at his brothers' wedding. He stayed to watch them kiss on the altar, and enjoy some of the festivities.

"Itachi, you look like you need to be somewhere." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Yeah." Itachi looked guiltily at the ground. "Sorry. I would stay longer but..." He ran a hand through his hair. "I've got a report to deliver."

"Itachi,"

Itachi turned towards Sakura just as she threw her arms around him.

"Thank you so much. I mean it. And tell the same thing to mum, okay?" She added with a whisper.

"You're welcome, Sakura. It was fun. And sure thing." He did his own whisper.

They released their embrace and Itachi turned towards Sasuke.

"Congratulations, bro. You got married before I did."

Everyone who heard burst out laughing. Especially Sasuke. He doubled over with laughter, clutching his gut.

"You'll get your chance, bro." Sasuke laughed.

They stood in place for a moment before slapping each other on the back in a show of brotherly affection. Itachi couldn't resist jabbing Sasuke in the forehead too.

Sasuke rubbed the poke zone and smirked at Itachi. "See you whenever."

Itachi nodded and stepped towards the side of the ship. As he stepped up onto the railing, Tsunade's words echoed through his head.

"_But why?"_

"_Remember what I said before? I only transformed you because you were protecting Sakura. Now that Sakura's living on land, I need a way to keep in touch with my daughter. You're just the human to do it."_

"_So you mean..."_

Itachi sailed through the air, exhaling the air in his lungs before hitting the water instead of inhaling. The moment he slipped under the water he took a breath and felt a tingling sensation though his body. Itachi smiled and flipped over, gazing up at the ship. He could faintly see Sasuke and Sakura watching the water below.

He have a quick wave in their direction and headed towards the underwater palace. He couldn't help but swim corkscrews and loops as he swam.

Itachi swam into the palace where every citizen of Atlantica, Itachi learned that's what the place was called, waited with bated breath.

Tsunade watched him intently.

Itachi smiled. "Sakura had been wedded to my brother, Sasuke."

The merpeople cheered with gusto. A band of weird shell instruments that he had totally missed before began playing.

Itachi watched the celebrations for a few minutes before heading off on his own.

"_Whenever you breathe water, you will grow a tail. When you breathe air, you'll turn back into a human."_

But of course, Itachi risked life and limb to give it a shot. Since then, he thoroughly enjoyed the freedom his new bright red tail brought him.

.oOo.

And thus, Sakura and Sasuke lived the rest of their life on land. Sakura was occasionally visited by Neji and Tenten who were apparently together, though she doubted her mother knew. When her mother DID find out however, she merely laughed as if she had expected it to happen.

Naruto visited randomly as well, but apparently he had hooked up with Neji's cousin whom Sakura didn't even know existed until Naruto brought her up. Apparently nobody else did either. Neji stated that she's from the Bermuda Triangle, as if that cleared everything up. Apparently Neji was from there was well. No wonder they had strange eyes.

Itachi made regular trips back and forth from Atlantica to his castle on land. He had so much on his plate by scrambling back and forth that Sasuke took over some of his job, relieving his stress immediately.

And then, Sakura learned how to write and insisted on writing letters to everyone back in Atlantica, causing Itachi to scramble some more, trying to find a way to get said letters down there without them getting...well...wet. Somehow, he managed to create a new type of paper from kelp that could easily be written on. All you had to do was let it dry while pressing it thin, and when you wrote on it, it absorbed the ink, keeping it permanent. It didn't make a difference at all whether it got wet or not.

But then there was the problem that the merpeople couldn't read human. Itachi had to teach them that too.

And then, they all lived happily ever after. Well, except Itachi, because he STILL hasn't married.

**A/N: TA DAA! Holy crap. This was a monster. Oh my freaking Poseidon this was a monster. This isn't a oneshot anymore. This is a very long story.**

**I adore the idea of Itachi running back and forth from the merpeople world to the human world. In fact, I have a question for you guys: Do you want me to extend this so I can include that awesomeness? I could include some NejiTenten too! Hmm...a very short sequel...like **_**The Little Mermaid II**_** which had a lot of stupid unrealistic stuff in it. At least in **_**The Little Mermaid**_** none of the humans stayed underwater for longer than say...twenty seconds. In the sequel, Melody stays underwater as a human for ten to twenty MINUTES at a time. Plus, she talks underwater too. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? *sighs irritably***

**So! What do you think of an extension? Or at least a sequel? Let me know!**


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